Better Without The Bow
by 324B21
Summary: This has probably been done a hundred times over, but what if it wasn't Sun that found Blake out in that Beacon courtyard, but Yang?


Yang's eyes seemed to have been taped open as she watches her and her sister's partners continue to verbally lash out at each other.

"I don't understand why this is causing _such_ a problem."

If she looks close enough, she can see the beginnings of cracks in Blake's usually calm demeanor. "That _is_ the problem."

Weiss pushes herself up off of her own bunk to stand between the two pairs of make-shift bunk beds. "You do realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you?" The heiress' words are softer now, Yang notes, silently hoping that the dispute was on it's way to cooling down. "The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."

The second those words leave Weiss' mouth, the possibility of a hushed night is shattered. Blake nearly launches herself from her position on her bed. Ruby yelps quietly in surprise from Yang's left.

"There is no such thing as _pure_ evil! Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin- people like _you_ that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

Weiss looks as though she's been slapped. "People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!" Blake snaps.

"_I'm a victim!_" As the 'victim' passes the fencer's lips, it nearly shatters, and Yang's stomach drops at hearing such a broken sound, coming from someone usually so sure of herself.

For a moment nothing is heard- nothing is spoken, as the admittance soaks the atmosphere in a somber air. Blake's golden eyes flicker in surprise as Weiss' drift downwards for a split second.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang so much? Why I don't particularly like the faunus?" She turns to face the waist-high bookshelf that stands just below their massive dormitory window, and places her hands on its surface. "It's because they've been at war with my family for _years_." Weiss glances back to Blake. "War. As in _actual _bloodshed."

She goes back to gazing out into the night. "My grandfather's company has has a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child I've watched family friends- sometimes even family _themselves- _disappear," Weiss breathes in deeply as one hand clenches into a fist atop the bookshelf.

The brawler's gaze flickers momentarily to her partner, who begins to adorn a slightly guilty expression. With something compelling her, Yang then glances up to her ever present bow.

"port members executed, an entire train car full of Dust stolen." Blake's guilt grows on her with each statement and she casts her own eyes downward. The blonde continues to watch. _Did Blake's bow just _twitch_? _"And everyday, my father would come home _furious._" Weiss eyes clench shut with her grip on her own hand tightening. "And that made for a _very_ difficult childhood." The heiress' fist crashes into the bookshelf with a force that should've splintered it.

Ruby, at this point, seems to be shocked out of her own silence and reaches forward to lay a hand on her partner's shoulder. "Weiss, I-"

"**No!**" The fencer spins out of her reach to face Blake in renewed rage. Golden eyes harden in response to Weiss', voice icy enough to match her snow white hair. "You want to _why _I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and _murderers_!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

Weiss' jaw instantly drops open and she takes a startled step backward. Yang's eyes widen as they look back up to the bow. _Blake- is she...?_

In the moments that pass Blake herself takes a surprised step back and looks to each of her teammates faces, each holding their own brand of shock. That is except for Yang, who's eyes begin to widen in realization.

Blake shifts her feet, as if deciding and exit strategy. "I..." Yang begins to register the panic her best friend's eyes and starts pushing herself up from the wooden armchair, but not before her partner speeds out the open door.

"Blake!" The chair is thrown across the room, narrowly missing Ruby, as the brawler clatters out of it. And before she can comprehend what's happening, she barrels through the door, right after Blake.

* * *

It doesn't take too long for Yang to find Blake outside Beacon's main campus, standing just before the stone statue of the academy's founders. At first, she's unsure of how to approach the clearly distraught girl, and chooses to hide herself in the shadow of one of the immense ivory columns that surround the courtyard. From here, she can hear the muffled sobs of her partner, and it damn near breaks her heart. To the point of her hand coming up to smother the hollow aching in her chest.

Yang wanted nothing more than to reach out and envelope the girl in her arms and protect her from everything Weiss had unknowingly accused her of. The blonde bites down on her bottom lip as she waits for Blake to move again. Though, she doesn't have to wait long.

Blake reaches upwards and begins to tug on one of the looser stands of the ribbon that forms her bow. Yang watches closely, as the ribbon loosens and falls limp into the speedster's hand. Lavender eyes glance back up, and there in the place of the bow stood two pointed black ears.

An amazed grin stretches across her face and a light dusting of blush covers the tops of her cheeks. "I knew you'd look better without the bow." She calls out.

Blake whips around, a hand reaching back for Gambol Shroud in reflex, only to meet lavender eyes turned violet in the dark of night. The cat ears she wore flattened back against her head in confusion as she registers the figure of he partner. "Yang?"

The blonde smiles sheepishly, and she steps out from behind the pillar. "Hey, Blake."

The ebony-haired faunus relaxes her stance and looks directly at Yang. "Yang what are you doing here?" Her eyes, tinged with red around the edges from her tears, fall to the ground.

"You didn't really think I'd let you run off into the night alone, did you? You're... You're my partner- my best friend." She swallows and steadily moves forward.

Blake doesn't look up. "You don't care?"

"What?" Yang cocks an eyebrow and settles a look at her partner. "You really think I'd lo-" The brawler is thankful for the dim light, because she's certain her face just bloomed several shades of red. "that I'd care about you any less because of a pair of ears?" _They're _so_ cute, how could I hate them? _She really had to keep a close check on her mouth. Blake didn't need to know about a silly crush at such a vulnerable time for her.

"No," The speedster shakes her head. "I mean about my history. With the White Fang?" Blake's fearful topaz eyes look up into Yang's, and Yang can feel her blush darken.

_ Whoa, have her eyes _always _been that golden?_

"I mean... I can totally understand, y'know? The faunus haven't exactly had the best time fitting in." Yang's eyes soften and she looks down at her hands, clad in her usual fingerless gloves. "And the extremists in humanity are absolutely _disgusting, _especially with some of the measures they go to." She looks back up to Blake. "You guys were backed into a corner, scared out of your mind. I know the White Fang aren't exactly the face of hospitality, but I get it. And I know that as a group, you guys did some pretty bad thing. But I don't care."

Blake's eyes begin to shift from fear to hope. "You- you don't care?"

Yang shakes her head. "Not one bit. Besides you're not with them anymore are you? You're here with _us,_" _With me. _Yang resisted the urge to whisper that last thought into the cool night air. "Your murky past is just that, the past."

Tentatively, she slowly reaches out to brush back rogue strands of hair that had fallen into Blake's face. And she didn't dare read into the motion of Blake leaning into her still lingering hand. She pulls it back quickly. "None of that matters anymore, not here at Beacon anyway."

After that quiet assurance, a comfortable but weighted silence settles around the two of them. Neither of them go to move out of the other's space, content to just breathe in the calm night for a few precious moments.

Yang was beginning to get lost in the way Blake's hair cascaded around her shoulders in an ebony waterfall, when she nearly jumps at the sensation of a warm palm brushing against her forearm.

"Thank-you, Yang."

The blonder grins crookedly at her partner. "Anytime, kitten." Yang expected to be met with annoyance at the incredibly unoriginal nickname when she met Blake's eyes, but all she was a calm fondness.

If it were any more possible, Yang's blush darkens. She clears her throat. "So, uh, you ready to head back or-" She stops mid-sentence as Blake shakes her head slowly.

"I'm not ready to go back- to face Weiss."

"Aww, c'mon. Weiss may be a little difficult sometimes but she's not ignorant. She'll come around, just give her until the morning to cool off." Yang reaches out to squeeze the faunus' shoulder as she just continues to shake her head.

"That's just it. She wasn't entirely wrong, Yang. I'm not exactly in the right here either." Blake bites down on her bottom lip and shifts as if to move away. And she almost does, until Yang gently takes her by both shoulders.

"Blake, I don't think anyone in RWBY is exactly 'innocent.' Weiss can be very close-minded at first and will lash out when she gets angry. Ruby le- well, I'll leave that for her to tell, but for Dust's sake I blew a damn club before I enrolled at Beacon, and _ran away_ from it, without accepting responsibility for it." Yang keeps her eyes trained on Blake's and watches as they grow with understanding. "We're not asking you to fit into some preconceived idea of who you should be. We're asking you to be _you._"

Yang takes a deep breath, and slowly releases Blake's arms, but doesn't step out of her space. "But if you need time away from Weiss and Ruby, then that's okay too." Yang pauses, suddenly wishing she wore some type of watch. _Maybe I should talk Ruby into installing one into Ember Celica for me. _"We can head into town and stay at the cheapest inn we can find."

"Yang, no. You don't have to do that, you have your own bed you can go back to, you don't need to bare through my sulking with me."

Yang closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Nope." She pops the 'p' with her lips. "You're not going to be alone right now. You need someone there for you- with you. What better someone than your best friend?"

Blake watches her for a moment, opening her mouth to argue, but thinks better of it. "Are you sure?"

Yang holds out a hand, and gives Blake a smile brighter than any of the stars that hang above their heads. "Absolutely. Now c'mon, I wanna hear some super crazy stories from your days with the White Fang."

The faunus just looks down, smiling and shaking her head.

And she let's Yang begin to pull her in the direction of Beacon's front gates rambling on about how cats were always her favorite animal anyway.


End file.
